Rained In
by LilyGhost
Summary: When the rain moves in, Stephanie's bedroom heats up.


**Apparently everything has potential to become a story to me. And this one is the result of a day of nothing but torrential downpours. Anything familiar is Janet's. The mistakes are mine. Warnings for mild smut.**

I felt the exact moment Ranger reached my bedroom door. I'd heard the dead bolts on the front door being unlocked, and I tracked his movements throughout my apartment. Ranger didn't stop once on his way to me, the carpet muffling the sound of his Bates boots coming closer.

Ranger had planned on spending the night with me, but Tank called not long after dinner ended saying he got word on their FTA. Even though neither of us wanted him to go, I know better than anyone that it comes with the job so I can't bitch about it. If the situation had been reversed, I would've promised to make it up to Ranger, but still left.

It hadn't been raining when I'd gone to bed, but I could hear it hitting the fire escape now. It wasn't falling in a gentle mist either, more like a full on deluge. Ranger must have parked close to the door not to be soaked through. I have no one to hunt down today, and it wasn't a Rangeman day for me, so if Ranger's schedule permitted it, I was tempted to just stay in bed with him and make up for the hours we missed out on last night. Maybe if I appear to be still sleeping, Ranger will just crawl in next to me and pretend that he doesn't have a multimillion dollar empire to run.

I tried to keep my breathing even and my back to Ranger, but it was getting harder to do when he didn't join me right away. I couldn't hear Ranger breathing or even his clothes rustling. If I hadn't heard my locks turn - and my neck wasn't currently feeling like a bug zapper - I'd swear I imagined Ranger coming back.

"I know you're awake, Babe," Ranger said softly.

Of course he did. Ranger knows _everything_.

I gave in to the impulse and flopped onto my back. I turned my head in Ranger's direction and saw that he was very interested in my pj's ... or what I consider pj's. The white tank top was thin enough that Ranger could probably see my nipples through the fabric ... make that _definitely _because apparently they'd perked right up when they felt Ranger's eyes on them.

To stack the playing hooky deck in my favor, I casually stretched my arms over my head, then crossed them underneath it. If Ranger wanted to look, then I'd give him something to look at, since my top was not only thin, but also shorter than it should be and rode up a little on my stomach when I moved. My midsection isn't overly muscled like his, but Ranger seemed to like it.

"Did you get your guy?" I asked, my voice sounding raspy from the sleep the front door opening woke me up from.

Ranger's gaze took another tour of my body before they came up to my face. "Yes."

"How'd it go?" I asked, kicking the blanket a little away from me so my tiny boxers - and the legs poking out of them - would also be noticed.

I knew I was pulling the tiger's tail and, truth is, I was really hoping this particular tiger attacked.

"Once we located him, and got the guy alone, the rest was easy."

I smiled. "I bet. So what's on today's agenda?"

"You."

"_Me?_"I asked.

"Yes," Ranger said, pushing off the door jamb and slowly walking over to me.

I swallowed as Ranger shrugged off his damp jacket, tossing that - then his gun belt - onto the chair he's used in the past to watch me sleep. When Ranger is the guy breaking into your apartment, watching you unconsciously drool, it's not as creepy as it sounds.

Ranger peeled his shirt off and then went to work on the laces of his boots.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

He toed off both boots and ditched his socks before answering.

"Joining you," Ranger informed me, his hands now going to his belt. "I told Tank he was on his own today."

"Why?"

"It's raining," Ranger told me.

"That's an excuse _I'd _use, Ranger. Weather doesn't bother you. You work in blizzards, hurricanes, heat waves ..."

"I also just pulled an all-nighter, Babe. I'm due for some shut-eye."

"And that's why you're taking off your pants ... because you intend to sleep in my bed?"

"_Eventually_, but not until we're both good and tired," Ranger said, watching me as I watched him slide his cargo pants off his hips and down his legs.

No surprise, Ranger had gone commando.

I swallowed again and cleared my throat before I could form a coherent thought, then I tried for a complete sentence or two.

"_I _just woke up, Ranger. I won't be tired for hours."

I caught a flash of white out of the corner of my eye, which drew my attention away from the perfection that is Ranger's naked body, past his grin, to the heated look in his eyes.

"That's what I was counting on hearing, Babe. I can do a lot in a few hours," Ranger assured me.

I wasn't doubting him at all. I know exactly what Ranger can accomplish in bed - and out - in an hour, and I was eager to find out what he can do with an entire day free.

My arms came out from underneath my head and were reaching for him before Ranger even made it to the side of my bed. I would worry that I appeared desperate for him, but I really didn't care that Ranger knew I was.

Ranger pulled my covers completely away from my body and stood looking down at it. Clearly Ranger wasn't into instant gratification this morning, but I sure as heck am. It seemed to me that Ranger was trying to memorize every inch of the skin I had showing, and I got a little impatient. I sat up, trying to pull him down on top of me.

Ranger isn't a man to be told what to do, so instead of letting me pull him onto the bed, Ranger grabbed the hem of my tank top and dragged it up my body, over my head, and down my arms. Now I had to let go of him if I wanted the material gone, and that's when Ranger's rattlesnake-like reflexes showed themselves.

He curled one arm around my back to lower me onto the bed, and his right hand slid into my boxers. Ranger used his wrist to take them off me, while his palm skimmed over my ass and leg as the last of my pajamas were removed.

The air felt cool on my bare skin, but Ranger warmed me back up, covering me with the heat pouring off his large body. Ranger threaded his fingers through my hair and tipped my head so he could kiss me as thoroughly as he wanted.

I wouldn't have complained about that even if I'd had control of my mouth and air in my lungs. As I got lost in the feel of Ranger's tongue stroking mine, my hands slid up Ranger's biceps, kneading the muscles there before I left them to test the strength of his shoulders. They were so wide, I couldn't close my arms around him like I wanted, so I had to improvise.

When oxygen became a little scarce, Ranger pulled back slightly to start working his magic on my neck. My eyes rolled back in my head a little when he sucked on the skin covering my pulse. I felt Ranger's lips curve slightly and the gentle pull of the stubble along his jaw, as he noted my reaction to what his mouth was doing to me.

I decided to let Ranger know just how much he affected me. My hands went back to exploring, and they slid over the muscles of Ranger's back, my fingertips searching out every ridge, dip, and scar. When I'd made it all the way down to Ranger's hips, I moved my legs apart and let him fall between them. As I drew my knees up so I could wrap my legs around him, I felt Ranger sudden inhale against my breast.

"You're ready for me, aren't you, Babe?"

Ranger didn't have to ask since he could obviously feel the evidence that I am.

"I've _been _ready for you, Ranger," I told him, framing his face with my hands. "I was just waiting for you to do something about it."

Ranger kissed me again before speaking. "I plan on doing plenty, Babe. The forecast is saying heavy rain straight through till tomorrow, and I will be informing Tank that starting today, you and I will have all storm days off."

That's a schedule change I can't find fault with. And this particular storm day, I couldn't think of anything better than making love to Ranger with only the sound of rain between us.


End file.
